Leader of the French Académie under Napoleon; theorist and historian of 18th century French art; artistic biographer. Quatremère initially studied law before taking courses in art and history at the
Collège de Louis-le-Grand. He also trained as a sculptor by Guillaume Coustou and Pierre Julien.
After visiting Naples with Jacques-Louis David, and later Rome, Quatremère
became interested in Classical Greek sculpture and architecture. He wrote
several essays on architectural theories, winning a competition sponsored by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres in 1785. Based on his
belief that style and function were inseparable in architecture, Quatremère
orchestrated the renovation of the Parisian church of St. Genevieve into the
Panthéon, France’s national mausoleum. He also advocated the use of the
Neo-Classical style in other buildings. The events of the French Revolution
caused him to become an advocate for artistic freedom and copyright. He
was elected a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in 1791, but during the Reign
of Terror imprisoned for two years, and nearly executed twice (1793 and1795). After being exiled to Germany in 1797, Quatremère began reading the works of Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), and Gotthold Lessing,
subsequently incorporating their philosophical ideas into his own theories on
aesthetics. As a member of the Council of the 500 in 1797, he served both
there and later as a member of the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles
Lettres in 1804. In 1815, as the Intendant Général des Arts et Monuments Publics, he published a critical evaluation of French museum
practices aimed at the practices of the museum builder Alexandre Lenoir,
entitled Considérations Morales. While serving as the Secrétaire Perpétuel to the Académie des Beaux-Arts from 1816-1839, Quatremère
gave funeral orations of Académie members. His important essay on the fine
arts, Essai sur la nature, le but et les moyens de l'imitation dans les
beaux-arts, was published in 1823 and translated into English by 1837. Quatremère was instrumental in
assisting the career of Guillaume-Abel Blouet by convincing the Académie Royale d’Architecture to publish Blouet's
important report on monuments restoration, Restauration des thermes d’Antonin Caracalla à Rome in 1828. During this time Quatremère published biographies of several Italian artists, including Antonio Canova (1823), Raphael (1824), and Michelangelo (1835).

Quatremère's theories epitomized the Académie's stance of the Greco-Roman style as the only appropriate building type for architects. This would be challenged in succeeding generations by architectural historians such as Jean-Baptiste Lassus and Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. Quatremère was the last
"armchair" archaeologist, eschewing the excavation site for personal and
sometimes romantic interpretations of art (Greenhalgh and de Grummond). However, Quatremère strongly
argued for keeping works of art in situ and against Napoleon's conglomerate
museum. His work caught the attention of many subsequent scholars, including René.Schneider, who wrote his thesis on him.